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MORTALITY AMONG^EGRQES
ill lit i^iN CITIES.^ m^ f m

' iPROCEfeDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE FOR
If INVESTIGATIONS OF CITY PROBLEM^ J

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ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS,
No. 1.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES
IN CITIES.

With Compliments,

Pres. HORACE BUMSTEAD, D. D.

ATLANTA, Ga.

ATLANTA, GA^
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

1S90.

^-- .;:

;•. i ;*v'

ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS,
No. 1.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES
IN CITIES.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE FOR
INVESTIGATION OF CITY PROBLEMS,

HELD AT

ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, MAY 26-27, 1896.

ATLANTA, GA.
ATLANTA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

1896.

1-/0')

■5

CONTENTS.

PA<:F..

Intuodtction, - -- 3

Remarks of President Bumstead, ------ 4

Occasion AND Purpose OF THE C(jnferen( e, - - 7
Reports from Washington, -----... \\\

Report from Atlanta, --------- i,s

Negligence as a Cause of Mortality, - - - - -jo

InTEMPERAN< K AS A CaUSE OF MORTALITY, - - - 'IW

Poverty as a Cause of Mortality, ----- :]()

Ignorance as a Cause of Mortality, - _ . - ;v2
(jEneral Conditions of Mortality, ----- ;5.')

Infant Mortality, ----------- ;5,S

Remarks by Bishop L. H. Holsey, ------ 4.")

Letter from Prof. Edward Cummings, - - - - 47

Letter from President R. R. Wright, - - - - 48

Letter from Geor(;e W. Cable, ------ 50

Resolutions of the Conference, ------ ,',1

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE.

INTRODUCTION.

Atlanta University always has drawn its students extensively
from the cities and large towns, and a great proportion of its
graduates are now holding positions at these centers of influ-
ence. From these workers information has come to the fac-
ulty and trustees of the University from time to time that has
led them to believe that there exists a great need for a sys-
tematic and thorough investigation of the conditions of living
among the Negro population of cities. So, at the annual meet-
ing of the trustees, July 1, 1895, President Bumstead brought
the subject before the Board, and it was decided to inaugurate
such an investigation, and provision was made for holding the
first of a series of conferences at the University. The plan at
that time was to hold this conference in November, 1895,
during the Atlanta Exposition. But upon further considera-
tion, it was deemed wise to change the time to the Commence-
ment in May, 1896.

It was not expected that much in the line of scientific re-
ports based upon accurate data couhl be presented at this first
conference, but it was believed that much information could
be gathered from the ordinary experiences and observations of
graduates and others, and that the subject could be considered
in such a manner as to arouse interest and enthusiasm, and so
pave the way for collecting and digesting extensive and accu-
rate data. Such, it is believed, has been the result of the con-
ference held.

4 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

Fortunately for the cause, there was elected as a trustee of
the University, in 189"), Mr. fieorge G. Bradford of Boston,
a graduate of Harvard University, who for several years has
been making the study of the Negro the occupation of his
leisure time. He entered heartily into this plan of investiga-
tion, and has taken the lead in it by preparing blanks, opening
up correspondence, and in other ways. In his efforts he has
had the assistance of Mr. Edward Cummings, Professor of
Sociology in Harvard Universitv. It was thought best to
begin with the topic of mortality among the Xegro jjopulation
in cities, and so most of the papers and discussions at the con-
ference were upon that subject.

The conference was organized Tuesday evening, May 2<j, by
the election of President Horace Bumstead as chairman, and
George A. Towns ('94) and James W. Johnson ('94) as record-
ing secretaries. The addresses, papers and resolutions in this
pamphlet furnish a sufficiently detaik'<l account of the proceed-
ings at the two sessionsof the conference. Provision for work
durinj the coming year was made by the election of Mr. (ieo.
G. Bradford of Boston, as corresj)onding secretary, and an
executive committee, consisting of Professor Thomas X. Chase
of Atlanta, Butler R. Wilson, Esq. of Boston, Rev. Joseph
E. Smith (75) of Chattanooga, and S. P. Lloyd, M. D. ('89)
of Savannah.

REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BUMSTEAD.

This conference has its origin in several striking facts. One
of these is the large [)roj^)ortiou of the Xegro population of the
land now found to be living in cities, viz: one-sixih, or a
million and a (piarter «»ut of the whole number of seven and
a half millions. Whatever we may think of the wisdom or
unwisdom of this drift to the cities, the fact piesents a condi-
tion thai must be met ami provided for. For we must remem-
ber that the condition and circumstances of Negroes living in
cities differ widely from those of the plantation Negroes. They
are thrown much more closely together in large masses on
narrower areas of laud and in more contracted tenements.
Xegro slums are already beijinuiny; to be found. The emplov-

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. •')

nients of city Negroos arc ditti'RMit from tiiosc (»f tlx' rural
brethren, agrieultiire being replaced by tiie trades, or the va-
rious forms of personal service, and to some extent i)v mer-
cantile and professional pursnits. Their social life is also
different.

Very little attention, too, has yet been given to the specific
problems arising out of the changed conditions under which
this large })roportion of Negro population is now sharing the
city life of their white brethren. The Negro has been thought
of chiefly as a tiller of the soil, as in fact he is ; and much has
been done, and very properly, for the improvement of his
plantation life. But the problems connected with his life in
the cities and larger towns need even more careful study and
thorough treatment.

In view of these considerations, it is important to note an-
other fact, and that is that nearly all the graduates of Atlanta
University are living and working in the cities and larger
towns of the South. This fact is \ery suggestive, lor the
problems of Negro city life must be settled largely by Ne-
groes themselves, and the body of our alumni arc in some re-
spects specially fitted for this task. Not only are they familiar
with the conditions of life in cities, but they have accjuired,
in their training in this Institution, some degree of accurate
observation and careful reflection, some acquaintance with
high standards of living, some iiimiliarity with measures of
reform and of social and economi<- imj)rovement that are in-
dis})ensable f<jr dealing with such matters. Herein is the great
opportunity of Atlanta Universitv and of this conference of its
alumni for the investigation of city problems which we inau-
gurate this evening.

I>et us not forget that the general sid)ject of this and suc-
ceeding conferences — the study of Negro city life — and the
particular subject of this year— the mortality of Negroes in
cities — constitute a human j)roblem far more than a Negro
problem. We shall use the words "Negro" and "colored," not
to emphasize distinctions of race, but as terms of convenience.
We are simply to study human life under certain conditions —
conditions which, if repeated with an_\ other race, would have

O STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

practically the same result. Patient, painstaking and persist-
ent work in gathering reliable statistics and other data will be
necessary for our success. It is no gala day enterprise that
we have begun. Courage and honesty in the search for real
facts are called for, and we must be ready to face and deal
with even the disagreealde facts and those which upset our pre-
vious theories, which our investigations may compel us to
recognize as facts.

And let me remind you, as I close this brief introduction to
the work of our conference, that the richest rewards await the
result of our undertaking if we are successful. Dr. Parkhurst
has said that it is in the great cities that the life of the nation
beats and throbs itself out. What the cities are, that in large
degree will the country that surrounds them be. The connec-
tion between the two is intimate. So the improvement of
Negro life in cities will make itself felt in the improvement of
Xegro plantation life. And the improvement of Negro life
anywhere will be a blessing to the life of the nation as a whole,
regardless of race or color.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES.

OCCASION AND PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE,

AND AN OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF WORK.

BY MR. GE()R{}K (J. BRADFORD OF BOSTON.

The rapid growth of our great cities, witliin recent year.*^, is
one of the pha.ses of modern life which hring.s witli it prol)lems
whose sohition calls for the best etForts of the leading men in
the city communities, whether white or black. Special conrses
for the study of these problems have been established in the
Northern colleges, and it is felt that the time has come when
Atlanta University must take up the study of those problems
of city life which its graduates are called upon to meet and
solve. It is none too soon to begin this work, for each year
a larger proportion of the colored race are concentrating in
the cities.

In 1860, only 4.2 per cent of the colored population of the
United States were living in the cities. By 1880, the number
had increased to 8.4 per cent of the whole ccdored popuhition,
while by 1890, it had increased to 12 per cent. This process
of concentration in the cities has been relatively much more
rapid among the colored peojile than among the whites, the
figures for whites during the same period being 10.9 per cent
in 18G0, and 15.7 per cent in 1890, or an increase of 4.8 per
cent, as against 7.8 per cent for colored. Plow rapid this in-
crease in the city population really is, may be illustrated by
the growth of the colored population in the city of Atlanta,
where the increase has been at a rate three times as great as
for the country at large. For decade 1870—1880, the increase
was 64 per cent ; for 1880-1890, 72 per cent ; while the aver-
age increase of colored poj)ulati(tn for the whole country dur-
ing the same period was only 2<) percent in each decade.

In taking up the study of city j)roblems, we feel that we
cannot do better than begin by an in(juiry into the ])hysical
and moral condition of the people. It is a line of in(iuiry
which has not been previously pursued on any systtMiiatie t»r

8 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

extensive scale. Up to the present time, students and inves-
tigators of the problems confronting the colored race have
confined themselves principally to the study of problems of
country life or directed their attention towards economic or
educational questions. Of the physical condition of the Negro
under the trying conditions of city life, we have little accurate
information. Many of the Southern cities have not had, until
within a few years, any city boards of health, and, as a result,
there has not been hitherto sufficient official data from which
any broad generalizations could be drawn, and such data as
have been obtainable have not yet been brought together into
available form. We have, however, some few data that are
sufficient to prove the necessity of the inquiry upon which we
have begun.

From the United States census for 1890, we have the mor-
tality for the white and colored population of five of our largest
cities — Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Louisville and
St. Louis — as given in a paper published by the trustees of
the Slater Fund :

,— RATES PER l,Or>0.— ^

WHITE. COLORED.

Washington 19 3«j

Baltimore 22 36

New Orleans 22 37

Louisville l.S 32

St. Louis 17 35

The excess of colored over white is 100, 63.6, (iS, 77 and
106 per cent.

By special report from Washington, these figures would ap-
pear to be for that city 19 whites, 34.7 colored; excess of col-
ored over white, 83 per cent. The death-rate among the
whites in these five cities ranged from 17 to 22 |>er thousand,
and among the colored from 32 to 37 per thou.sand, or from
63 per cent to 106 per cent greater among the colored than
among the whites. In the city of St. Louis, the death-rate
among the colored was more than twice that among the whites.

The significance of this excessive mortality can be appreci-
ated only when we come to study the causes of destitution in
out great cities. There are some very valuable figures on this

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 9

point in a comprehensive treatise by AmosG. AVarner, Ph.D.,
entitled "American Charities." (See table annexed.) In his
analysis of causes of destitution among the colored })eople of
Baltimore, we find 8^i per cent of all cases of destitution are
due to sickness. We have no official figures on this point for
Washingt(»n or any other Southern city. But a similar report
for New York shows 37 per cent from sickness, and for Boston
45.6 per cent. These are among cases of destitution of which
there is official record. The result might be diffi^rent, could
we obtain the facts for all cases. Among the whites, also,
sickness is one of the chief causes of destitution, but the per-
centage is much smaller, averaging about 20 per cent, while
the average among the colored people is 39 j)er cent, or nearlv
twice as great. We see, therefore, that one of the first things
we must do in improving the condition of the masses of the
poorer colored people crowded together in the great cities is
to try to lighten the heavy burden of sickness now weighing
them down. This will involve an inquiry not only into })hvs-
ical or economic conditions, but into moral conditions as well.
W^e feel, therefore, that in beginning our study of city prob-
lems by an inquiry into the causes of the excessive mortalitv
among the colored people, we are striking right at the root of
many of the evils that we have been trying to reach.

Important as is the industrial education of a state, it is evi-
dent that no rapid economic xdvance can be made by a race
physically or morally weak. It is evident that both physical
and moral as well as the economic conditions should be care-
fully studied, and we shall see later that they should be studied
together, as each one acts upon the other. The task, then,
which we have undertaken is the inquiry into the exact condi-
tions, physical, moral and economic, affecting life in city com-
munities. Later, when we have gathered sufficient informa-
tion, we may be able to point out how those conditions may
be improved. But at present our chief aim must be to make
a thorough and searching investigation.

The method which has been adopted for making this inves-
tigation is as follows : In order to gather the necessary data,
uniform setd of blanks have been prepared and put in the hand.--

10 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

of graduates of this University, and of educated colored men
and women located in different cities. These sets consist of
three different blanks, known as blanks Nos. 1, 2 aud 3.
Blank Nos. 1 and 2 are to serve the purpose of a permanent
record by which to measure the progress of each city commu-
nity from year to year. As in many cities the official records
from which the data for these blanks must be gathered, have
been in time past very incomplete, we shall be unable to pm
view the past progress of those cities as we should like to, but
these records are being made more complete each year, so that
in the future we shall be able to measure progress made with
some degree of accuracy. Blank No. 3, called the Family
Budget blank, provides for a more intimate inquiry into the
conditions of life existing in a particular community, and is
intended to bring out the causes of results shown in blanks
Nos. 1 and 2. The points of inquiry covered by this blank,
No. 3 are :

First — General conditions of the home life, the size of the
homes, their sanitary conditions, and the amount of sickness
in the family.

Second — Economic conditions, occupations of family, the
amount of income, etc.

Third — The expenditure of family for food, rent, intoxi-
cants, etc., showing habits of life in the community.

The results of an investigation carried on along the above
lines will be brought out in later papers.

In regard to the conferences : It is proposed each year to
take up the discussion of certain phases of city life most de-
serving attention. Just what will be the subjects for these
discussions will be determined by the results of investigations
already begun, and announcements will be made later. The
general plan of conference will be not unlike that of the Na-
tional Conference of Charities and Corrections, and some of
the subjects taken up will be similar to those discussed there,
such as home life, child saving, district nursing, scientific
study of social problems, municipal and county charities ; or
economic questions, such as diversity of employment, co-op-
eration, loan associations, savings institutions, mutual insur-

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 11

ance, etc. It will probably be fount! advisable to have at the
confercDce next year section meetings where special t<)|)i(scan
be discussed more freely and fully than in the general confer-
ence. This is, in general, an outlii>e of the plan upon which
the investigation and the conference will be conducted. As
the work develops, and we gain more experience, the j)lan will
be modified to meet the needs of the time.

The work of investigation will no doubt prove difficult, and
will require not only patient and accurate work, but the will-
ing co-operation of a large number of individuals. Rut we
believe that there is no body of n)eu and women so well able
to do this important work for their communities as the gradu-
ates of Atlanta University and similar institutions. They are
scattered through all the principal cities of Georgia and the
neighbjoring States; they are all in positions where they have
special facilities for the gathering of valuable data, and their
zeal and industry will more than compensate for any lack of
scientific statistical training. No one of these graduates can
prosecute this work alone. His investigation would necessa-
rily be too limited to produce any accurate results. It is only
by comparing aud compiling data from many different sources
that accuracy can be insured. Co-operation, therefore, is essen-
tial. Though the results accomplished by each individual may
seem to him incomplete and insignificant, the combined results
of all will prove of the utmost value.

A word of caution : Some of the information brought out
bv this investigation may prove very unpleasant for us to con-
template. It may seem as if much of our work for the last
twenty-five years had been of no avail. We may be tempted
to shut our eyes to the real facts, or to doubt their existence.
But if we are to make any progress, we must have the courage
to look unpleasant facts in the face. We are not attempting
to prove or disprove any theory, but we are trying to get at
the most unfavorable conditions affecting our communities, in
order that we may improve those conditions. Accuracy is the
first essential in an investigation as important as that upon
which we have begun. It is well for us all to keep this in
mind, that we may not be temj)ted by our j)revious theories or

STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

predilections to suppress or distort the information we are
called upon to furnish. We need have no fear of the results.
The past we cannot mend. It is the future we must look out
for, and we need all the knowledge and informatit»u we can
gather for the solution of the difficult problems before us.

[Table Annexed. See page 9.]

TABLE NO. IX, ON "CAUSES OF DESTITUT10N,*^%R0M
"AMERICAN CHARITIES."

BY AMOS G. WARNER, PH. D.

COLORED.

Causes.

iNew York

NO.lPEB CT.

Matters of

Employment

Sickness

Drink

Shifilessness and
Inefficiency

All Causes.

35.18

37 03

7.40

5.55

Boston. I, Baltimore.

NO.IPEB CT.IXO. IpER CT

24 17.39
63 45 65

U 7L<)7

4.34

2.02 Il38 6.65

96' 29.62

r26j 38.88

16j 4.93

21' 6.48

3241 15.86

New Haven.

NO. PER CT.

30 00
23.33
10.00

3.33

6.72

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 13

REPORTS FROM THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.

BY MK. GEORGE (i. HRADFOKD.

The following is a summary of reports received from the
City of Washington. We are indebted to Mr. L. M. Hershaw
of the class of '8(), for a very eomplcte rej)ort for blanks Nos.
1 and 2, and to the courtesy of Dr. W. Bruce Klvans of Howard
University, who at very short notice made uj) for us a small
group of family budgets. The results of the investigations
made by these two gentlemen, in their own city, may prove
helpful to workers in other cities, and may also serve to show
how far the blanks serve the purpose for whi(-h they were in-
tended. Blanks Nr)s. 1 and 2 were to serve as an index to
mark the progress of the community. Let us see, therefore,
what Mr. Hershaw's reports, in these two blanks, show as to
the progress which has been made in Washington during the
last ten or fifteen years :

Taking first the death-rate, we see by blank No. 1 that the
average death-rate among the colored people for the two five-
year periods, 1878-1882 and 1888-1892, were respectively
37.12 per thousand and 32.8 per thousand, showing a smaller
death-rate for the secojid period.

WHITE. COLORED.

Average 1878-1882 18.H1 37.12

Average 1888-1892 19.19 32.08

Turning to blank No. 2, where we have the death-rate for
the years 1880, 1890 and 1895, as well as the causes of death,
we find the same result, namely a constantly decreasing death-
rate:

WHITE. COLORED.

1880 17. (i 35..">

1890 12.3 34.7

1895 .W. 15.8 28.1

The excess of coIottu over white is 103, 83 and 7S per cent.

Comparing the number of deaths for the series of years in

each of the four grou})s into which the blank is divided, we

STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

see a steady decrease in each group without exception, and
that in most instances it is a decrease both actually as to num-
ber of deaths, and relatively as compared with whites.

BLANK II.

CAUSES OF DEATH.

RATE PER THOUSAND.

CROUP I.

CROUP II.

Excess of

White.

Colored.

White.

Colored.

1880..

....39.5

101.6

157 per ct.

1890..

....21.6

65.7

204 per ct.

1890..

....33.4

86.3

158 per ct.

1H95..

....16.8

56.3

250 per ct.

J895..

....28.9

63.4

1 19 per ct.

CROUP III.

CROUP IV.

Excess of

White.

Colored.

White.

Colored.

1890..

....17.04

33.6

1H80..

...117.88

1895..

....13.35

18.2

37 per et.

1890..

...117.00

161.5

1895..

..inn, 06

143.6

43 per ct.

The conclusion we should come to is that there has been a
general and v>ntinued improvement in the condition among
the colored people in Washington during the last fifteen years.
The only exception to this shown by the blanks is found in
blank No. 1, under heading "Illegitimate colored births."
Comparing the averages for the two five-year periods given in
1878-1882 and 1888-1892, we find the number of illegitimate
births per thousand inhabitants to be 5.1 and 5.9, and the per
centage of total births to be 18.3 and 25, showing a slight in-
crease for the second period in the actual number of such
births per thousand inhabitants, and quite a considerable in-
crease in the proportion of such births to the total number of
births (colored), the figures being 18.3 per cent for the first
period, and 25 per cent for the second period.

So much, then, for the two blanks as a record of the pro-
gress of the community. Let us see how far they give us any
indication of the character of the population or of the causes
of some of the results to be noticed.

One very striking fact is to be noted in blank Xo. 1, bring-
ing out in a most graphic way the peculiar and abnormal char-
acter of the population of Washington, both white and colored.
In comparing the death-rate and birth-rate, we find the death-
rate actually larger than the birth-rate ; that is, more persons
die in Washington every year than are born there, and yet the

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 1"'

population is steadily increasing, .This panidoxical state of
things is due to tlie fact that Washington is our national ca]»-
ital and its population largely transient.

"WHITE. COLORED. WHITE. COLORED.

Average death-rate 18. Gl 37.12 llMiJ 32.08

Average birth-rate 17.10 24.47 14. 89 25.02

Excess in death-rate 1.45 9.65 4.30 T.OO

But it is to be noticed that so far as these figures indicate,
the colored population is becoming more permanent, while the
white poj)ulation is becoming more transient.

It would be interesting if that conclusion could be verified
in any way.

For causes of the high mortality still prevailing among the
colored people, we turn first to blank No. 2. Although con-
siderable progress has been made in tlie last fifteen years, the
death-rate among the colored people in 1895 was still 78 per
cent greater than among the whites. Analyzing the causes of
death, we see that the greatest excicss is found in Group II,
which includes the three causes of infant mortality. In 1895,
the number of deaths from these three causes was 250 percent
greater among colored than among whites, and we find that
there ha.s been an increase in that respect since 1890, when
the excess was only 204 per cent. We also find that the pro-
portion of the whole number of deaths due to these three
causes was greater in 1895 than in 1890, the figures being re-
spectively 20 and 18.9 per cent.

We are able to show still more conclusively to what an ex-
tent the excessive death rate among the colored people is due
to the great infant mortality, for we have for the five years
1888-1892 a re])ort of the number of deaths under five years

of age :

^1888-1892.^

V WHITE. COLORED, EXCESS COLORED.
^.,c.v..., ....v.v. -v 5.7 15.0 1»)3.0 per cent.

Deaths over 5 13.4 17.8 32.8 per cent.

Total deaths 19.1 32,8

16 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

This shows that the rate of deaths of children under five
years of age was 15 per thousand of population among col-
ored, as against 5.7 among the whites, or nearly three times as
many for the colored. This difference we may partly attrib-
ute to the more permanent character of the Negro population
in Washington, and to the fact that there is consequently a
larger proportion of children among them than among the
whites, but there are other causes, some of which have to do
with the social conditions prevailing in that community indi-
cated by the exception to the general progress noted in an
early part of this paper, viz: increase in illegitimate births.

Following the investigation made by Mr. Hershaw, through
official records, we have that made by Dr. W. Bruce Evaus,
by the family budget method. This latter method is intended
to give us 'Ml intimate knowledge of the conditions of life
among the individual members of the community. Groups of
families are selected representing a single neighborhood, trade
or class in the community, and accurate information ia» ob-
tained in regard to the families in each of these groups. By
combining, comparing and classifying the information ob-
tained froiu several groups, we are enabled to come to very
accurate conclusions as to the most favorable as well as to the
most unfavorable conditions affecting life in that community,
and are thus able to determine on the most feasible measures
of reform.

Dr. Evans has furnished us the information in regard to one
group of twenty-one families, and although it is impossible for
us to make from this one group any generalization in regard to
the colored population of the City of Washington, a community
of 86,000 persons, the information is very interesting as rep-
resenting the generally well-to-do character of the twenty-one
families represented.

The neighborhood in which they live is reported as being
fair or good, and this is confirmed by the following figures de-
duced from the report, thus:

Thirteen of the twenty-one families own their own houses.
The houses for the most part are supplied with modern con-
veniences, nineteen having city water, nine sewer connection,

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES.

etc. The avcnigc mimhcr of roonls (K!('nj)i('(l hv n fiiniiU i~
bctwicn five mikI six, (he smallest number being four, while
over lialf iia\c fVom six to eight.

The average number of j)ersons oeeuining the same sh't-ping
room is two. although in four instanees there are four to a
I'oom. atid in one instance, five.

There arc only four cases of sickncs.- rcjtorted, while twelve
i'ainilies rej)ort no sickness at all.

Only ten families rej)ort as to income, but the average for
the ten is high, Itcing S<)<)4 a year, aiid in seven families out
of the ten the iiusi)an(l entirely su])j)orts the tamilv bv his sole
labor. It is interesting to note the occnpalions of tiiese seven
men. The large-t income is earned by a carpenter, wlm re-
ports his earnings as 87S() ; next comes a barber, earning i^~'2i)
a year ; a teacher, earning ?^f)")n ; a janitor, $")(!() ; a laliorer.
S4S0; a steward, i^:V.H) ; and lal)orer, ?2.")<>.

This matter of the occupations of city residents is one dc-
M'rving a special line of inquiry, and il is hoped that someone
will undertake to make a rcj)(»rt on this subject at the next
conference. Th<' data (•i)laine<l, by a continuation of the fam-
ily budget inNc-tigation, will l)e found very useful f)r sudi a
report.

Tiie large-t incomeofone funily is that ofafamilv of nine,
the father and motiier both dead, and tiie eldest brother and
two sisters suj»porting the family. The brother is an exj)re.-s-
man, I'arning .SoOO a year; (he two sisters are teachers, earning
§4ol> each, making a total of '?1,4()'> a yeir. This familv owns
its own houM'. having eight rooms^ with eitv water, sewer con-
nection- and other conveniences. Five (»f the families rej)ort
saving.- a\'eraging i^]'2'-]J)2 |ter family.

In conclu<ling this report for the City of Washington, I wish
to exj)re-s regret that the very limited time within which the
investigation had^|Jj<' made sliould ha\-e j)revented its being
carried thi-ough <>]\ Tf more extensive scale, and I wish also to
acknowledg<' <.nec more the valual>le assistance rendereil by
Mr. ll(r-lia\\ and 1 )i-. Kvans.

18 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

REPORT FROM ATLANTA.

An attempt was made to fill out hlaiik Xo. 2 from the re-
cords in Atlanta, but the data obtaiuahle were not sutticiently
full or accurate for an extended report.

The following are the returns for the year 1S!M), figured on
the basis of the census population for that year. For pur-
])Oses of comparison, the census figures for population are the
only reliable ones to use :

^1890.— ^

WHITE. COLORED.

PopulatioQ MA16 2>^.117

("Iroip I. — Consumption and pnoiiinonia, lotril... I'lGA) "22.') 0

Rate per 10,000... :W 7 so ti

E.xcess for colored l;i7 o per cent.

(iRoti' II. — Cholera infantum, convulsions an'l

still-born, total 1210 2:10.0

Rate per 10,000 o2.rS si. a

P2xcess for colored 14H.0 per cent.

(tiiuip III — Contagious diseases, total "JO.O 7s. 0

Rate per 10,000 24.0 27.7

E.xcess for colored 15 U per cent.

CiRoiT IV —Other causes, total M',OA) 'MiA)

Rate per 10,000 '.tS 0 133 0

Excess for colored 35.0

Grand total 70M.O !»i)7.0

Rate per 10,000 Ix'J.O 322.0

E.xcess for colored 70.0 per cent.

In looking for causes for e.Kcessive doulh-rate among colored
people, we see at a glance by this table that the cau.se is not to
be found under heading of Group III, ''Contagious disea-ses,"
as the e.xcess there is only lo per cent, as against 70 per cent
e.xcess for total death-rate. We see that it cannot be found
under hea<ling of Group IV, "Other causes," as excess there
is only .io per cent. It must be found, therefore, among the

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. !••

five diseases inclii<l(>(l under (iroujis land II. Looking there
we find that 50 per cent of all deaths are due to those five
diseases. From consumption and pneumonia there were '225
deaths, or 24. H per cent of the whole number. From the
three children's diseases there were 230 deaths, or 25.4 per
cent of the whole number, making ibr the two groups 50.2
per cent of the whole.

\\ e also see that the excess under (ironp I was l.'iT jn-r cent,
and under (iroup II it was 141) per cent. These figures are
sufficiently startling, but they are still more so when compared
with the figures for 18(S0. The death-rate for consumption
and pneumonia that year am<)ng the colored people was HO in
10,000, being 19 per cent, of the whole number of deaths, and
91 per cent in excess of rate among whites. Comjiaring these
figures with those for 1H90, we see that the latter year shows
a greater actual and relative death-rate from those diseases.
The conclusion to l)e drawn from this comparison would be
tiiat consum|)lion and j)neumonia were on the increase among
the colored peo])le fi)r the decade 1880-1890. The causes fi)r
that increase are to be sought by such investigations as that
})lanned in blank No. 3, the ''Family Budget," which are be-
ing made, and will furnish data for the next annual conference.

-0 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

NEGLIGENCE A CAUSE OF MORTALITY.

BY H. R. BUTLER, M. D., ATLANTA.

For many years great (juestions have arisen concerning the
colored people in this country, many of which, reganlless (if
strong and powerful arguments to the contrary, have been
Ijeneticial to them.

It was once argued bv some that the Nejjro had no soul, but
after many hotly contested theological and anatomical discus-
sions, it was finally agreed that since he resembled man so
closely, he must therefore have something like a soul. Hence
from that day,>^ far as man's admissions are concerned, we
have had something like souls.

It was also declared tliat the Heavenly Father had made
him to be forever a slave. But when England emanciptited
her slaves, and Toussaint L'Ouverture, by his own mighty
arm, whipped the French and liberated his own people, and
when the sainted and immortal Abraham Lincoln, l)y the
stroke of his pen, gave freedom to the four millions of slaves
then in this country, that proposition lell.

It was then announced that the Negroes were dying out
and that soon the race would be gone. But oidy one genera-
tion has passed, and from four millions they numl>er to-day
nearly eight millions. It is therefore evident to us all that
this proposition, too, has collapsed.

Now conies the charge that, while we are not dying out, we
are dying faster than the white race. This proposition is true,
and will stand until the conditions and causes which produce
death more readily among us than among the whites are re-
moved. I refer to those causes and conditions that have been
s(» ably discussed here during this conference, such as poverty,
ignorance, intemperance, etc., and among these negligence
holds a prominent place.

We have already learned by this investigation what tiiseases
cause more deaths among our people than among the whites.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 21

W'f liavc loiiiid these to he jMieuin.onia, eoiixiiUioiis, chohra
iiitantuin, and eoiisurnptlon. It has also l)een diseovercd that
there are more still-born among our people than amoi.n the
whites. But there are causes for these things — yes, mure
causes than the time alloted will allow me to discus.s.

As couvulsions and cholera infantum are largely caused by
ignorance and poverty, and since these two diseases were
diseuss'd at some length under those causes, I will pass over
them, ))ausing only long enough to s-iy that it is true that hun-
ger and the want of ])r(»per food, as well as the ignorance ot"
h(nv to prepare it, when to eat it and how to eat it, often cause
convulsions, cholera infantum and other diseases of the ali-
mentary canal.

As to still-l)irths : W'hv shoiikl we l)e surjirised at the ^reat
number of still-births among our wcuuen, since they do most
ot the work that is liable to ))roduce this state of things ".' They
do the cooking, the swee[)ing, the lifting of heaw pots; they
carry the coal, the wood, the water; they carry heavy burdens
on theii' htads; they do heavy washing, make beds, turn heavy
mattresses, and climb the stairs several times during the day,
while their more favored white sister is seated in her big arm-
chair, and not allowed to move, even if she wanted to. In
these things, my friends, you have the causes of the excess in
this trouble.

The average colored laborer is exceedingly neglectful. lie
will drive or walk all day in the rain or snow, come home and
go to bed with his wet clothes on, with tlu' belief firmly fixed
in his mind that unless he lets these clothes dry on him he
will contract a cold, and no argument we might use will con-
vince him otherwise. Again, since the colored people here
c(unpose the majority of the laboring classes, it stands to reason
that thev are moj-e exj)Osed than the whites, and are therefore
more susceptible to those diseases that may l>e caused by ex-
posure. The colored man sweej)sthe streets and fills his lungs
with the dust and dried bacteria expect(M"ated (tu the streets a
few hours since from the lungs vi' some c()nsum])tive ; he
drives the garbage carts, he dig^ the seweis, drives hacks aiul
drays, and in tact doc< most ol the work in\(dving exjjosure

Tl STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

which natiirallv makes him more liable to contract such dis-
eases as pleuri.-v, bronchitis, pneumonia and consumption.

It has been said by some that the Negro did n«>t die with
consumption until he became free, and that this new life
brought also a new cause of death to him.

But this statement in itself is sufficient proof to me that in
those dark days of slavery the colored people as a race, re-
ceived little or no attention. Any case which calomel, blue-
mass or castor oil could not reach, was lett to take its own
course, with few exceptions. The main cause of their sickness
was often neglected, and when death came it was simply a
Xegro gone — that was all. No record was left to show what
the cause of death was, and there the matter was dropped.
I believe, reasoning from what I see to-day relative to the
causes that produce consumption, that there were more graves
rilled with the victims of that disease thirty years before the
war closed than there have been for a similar jxriod ot' time
sii\ce. The only ditference is that now the deaths ami their
cau»e are recorded, and we know; then they were not recorded
and we did not know.

Again, experience has taught me that most of th<' deaths
due to consumption among our people were the result of con-
sumption contracted, and not to congenital consumption, as
our enemies invariably put it down.

The city has neglected and is still neglecting the colored
peo|)le, and especially that class of them which is dependent
tij)on its charity in times of sickness. It has millions to build
prisons with, but not a dollar with which to build charitable
institutions. It allows money grabbers to build small huts
and crowd into them five times the number of people that
should be allowed ; it has no law by which the owners of this
property can be made to keep it clean. The houses are never
})ainted, the wells are filled with the filth of the neighborhood
and the fences are never white-washed, and the city is power-
less to interfere. Family after family move into these places,
and often only one or two are left to tell the story. My
fiiends, it is one thing to stand here in this clean, well-lighted
hall and read papers on this subject, but it is altogether differ-

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 23

ent to go clown into those dark, poor and liuiuMc liorncs and
see death going through destroying the old and the young
because of the negligence on the part of those in authority.

Some of the white physicians neglect the colored pooj)le. J
wish it to be understood, however, that 1 nv>aii some, not all,
for there are some honorable exceptions to the statement just
made. 1 ."^ay they neglect our peo})le, and we cannot blame
them. Doctctrs can no more afford to work for nothing than
a teacher or any other person who is working for an honest
living. Hence he refuses to go to these people ; first, becaM-.e
they are not able to pay, and secondly, because the city ha-
appointed physicians whose duty it is to attend the j)<)()r in
their various wards. These physicians are paid from ^()0() to
$800 a year to do that work, and then they neglect it, esj)eci-
ally such ca.ses as diphtheria.

While this city has furnished physicians, it has furnished no
medicine. It has no free dispensaries, as it sliould, nor duo
it pav the physician money enough to (urnish medicines ap]»li-
cable in every case, and at the same time care for himself and
familv. Hence, when he is called to see a patient, it matters
not what the disease u'ay be, it is either compound catiiartic
pills, calomel, Epsom salts, blue-mass or castor oil. Any ca.se
these remedies don't reach is left to get well if it can or die if
it must. I ask, then, in all candor : Is it any wonder that
we die so fia.st when we get such good attention, doctors, such
excellent nursing, such fresh" medicines applicable in every
case of our disea.ses?

Here in this city of push, pluck and Christian j)rogr(ss, there
is not a decent hospital where colored people can be cared ior.
At the Grady Hospital, which takes about $2().()(H) (,f the
city's money annually to run it, is a small wooden annex down
by the kitchen, in which may be crowded fifty or sixty beds.
and that is all the hospital advantages 4(),(M)() ccdored citizens
have. But, on the other hand, our white friends, with a |)o]>-
ulation of about 70,000, have all the wards and private rooms
in the entire i)rick building at this hospital, together with n
very fine hos|)ital here, known as St. Jo.sepli's Inlirniary.
Hence, mv friend.'^, vou can see that one of our grt^tot n(((l-

--i STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

is a first-class up-to-date li(w[)ital, where the ei>h)rtMl peo])h^
can not only get j)roper treatment, hut can aUn have all ufcc.—
sary operations perffkrmed. However, thi> eX(e>sive death-
rate among lis may he hest for us. (Ind mnves in mvsterious
ways. He purged us in the burning fires of'>lavery fi»r more
than twoiiundred and fifty years, preparing us for the great
responsibilities of freedom, and now who knows l>ut what He
is cleansing us with His fan of death, ridding us of the worth-
less elements of the race, and thus fitting us for that higher
brighter and nobler citizenship which is vet to come ".' All we
can do is to work, watch, prav and wait.

Again, the educated and the more highlv favored of our
people often neglect their own race. Thev neglect the j)o(»r,
they will not -iipport race enterprises, they fail to support
their own business ar^;' professional men, and vet they want to
j»ose as big men and leaders of their penj)le. liut, as I st-e it,
that is not carrying out the idea of a trulv edu<ated person.
Education does not mean that we nuist >top woi-k, t)ut it rather
means that we must go to work \\ith greater encrgv to help
elevate our people along all lines, and thereby make rhcm
better citizen^: and better ('hri>rl;(n«;. Xeither doe< to gradu-
ate and get a diploma mean to -eparate u> from our peoph'
l)ut it rather means to bind u- t-loser to our race, our country
and our(iod. It matters nt>t whether we \k' |ucaclu>rs, teach-
ei's, lawyers, doctors, or whether we are cnurc^cd in business,
we should remember that(Jod h;i- made us the pillar of i-loud
by day and the pillar of fire bv night to lc;id one |)coj)|(',
which we cainiot do unless we keep n» ar to them. I >pcak of
these things because they have much to do with the health of
the people. If we patronize race enterprises, if we ))atronize
our preachers, teachers, lawyer-, dentists and l)iisinc>-^ nu'U, it
will increase our wealth, with which we can help tlu' poor of
our race; it will open other avenues of labor for our j)eople,
we will be able to build health rcsoi-ts and hos|)itals for them,
and do many other things beneficial to their health that we
are not able to do now because we fail to support each other.

Taking all things into consideration, I don't think the ilcath-
rate of the c(dored race is so far in e.xci-ss (d"the whites. Is it

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 25

any wonder that we die faster than our white l)r()ther when he
gets the first and best attention, while we are nej^lect^'d on all
sides? They have the best wards and treatment at the hospital,
while we mnst take it second-hand or not at all ; they have all
the homes for the poor and the friendless, we have none ; they
have a home for fallen women, we have none ; they have the
public libraries where they can get and read books on hygiene
and other subjects pertaining to health, we have no such priv-
ileges; they have the gymnasiums where they can go and de-
velop themselxes physically, we have not ; they have all the
parks where they and their chiidren can go in the hot summer
days and breathe the pure, cool air, but for fear we might
catch a breath of that air and live, they put uj) large signs,
which read thus: "P^or white people only" ; they live in the
best homes, while we live in humble ones ; they live in the
cleanest and healthiest parts of the city, while we live in the
sickliest and filthiest parts of the city ; the stre<'ts on which
they live are cleaned once and twice a day, the streets on
which we live are not cleaned once a nutnth, and some not at all ;
besides, they have plenty of money with which they can get
any physician they wish, any medicine they need, and travel
for their health when necessary; all of these blessings we are
dej)rived of. Now, my friends, in the face of all these disad-
vantages do von not think we are doing well to stay here as
long as we do ?

In conclusion, I would say that even to remove all the
causes of" df^ath due to negligence will take ages. W e may
remove ignorance, we may remove intemperance, we may re-
move poverty and negligence, but in order to decrease this
mortalitv among our people we must have our own physicians
and a plenty of them, we must have parks and public biths,
we must have free disj>ensaries, and we must have good hos-
pitals, and until thes" things are accomplished very little head-
way will be made in reducing this excessive death-rate. It is
the duty of every Christian citizen to see that these things are
♦lone.

STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

I^TEMPERA^'CE AS A CAUSE OF MORTALITY.

BY MRS. GEORGIA SWIFT KIN(; ('74).

Alcuhdl sustains a double relation to disease and death, that
of direct or immediate cause and that of imlirect or remote
cause, and the peculiar nature of this relatiou confines the
writer on this subject to facts rather than to tij^urcs. To as-
certain the truth concerning the relation of intemperance to
mortality, it is necessary not only toenutne'rate the deaths due
to acute alcoholism, such as delirium tremens and the various
>udden congestions and paralyses conse(iuent upon the taking
of excessive quantities of strong drink, together with the great
majority of homicides, suicides and accidental deaths, which
may be traced directly to the use of alcoholics; but it is nec-
essary also to inquire into the real causes of the deaths ascribed
to the ordinary acute and chronic diseases, the contagious and
infectious diseases, indeed, the whole category of clas,-<ified dis-
eases. There is a condition known as tatty degeneratitjn, which
the medical scientist recognizes not only as a tlistinct and for-
midable disease of itself, but because it renders the ti-^sues un-
able to resi.->t the ravages of otlw^r diseases, and because of its
general distribution throughout the body, it i> known to fur-
nish for all diseases a most fruitful soil. Says Dr. Monroe of
England, in his lecture on ''The Physiological Action of Alco-
hol" : "Alcoholic narcolization appears to produce this pecu-
liar c(»udition more than anv other airent with which the med-
ical scientist is acquainted," and (piotes from E)r. Lees as
.saying "that alcohol should produce in the drinker fatty de-
generation of the blood follows as a matter of course, since we
have an agent that retains waste matter by lowering the nu-
tritive arid excretory functions, and a direct poisoner of the
vesicals of the vital stream." Dr. Mouroe continues : "Thi.s
devitalization of the nutritive fluid is probably the first step to
the devitalization of the tissue which it feeds," and credits Dr.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 27

Chainl)t'rs with the a<s(>rti()ii : "'rii!-oe-(jiiart<'rs of the clinniic
diseases which the medical man has to treat arc occasictiicd liv
this disease." Fatty degeneration is evidently coextensive
with the drink hahit, whether excessive or moderate, appear-
ing to follow as surelv the glass otheerat dinner as the gla.-s
of strong drink three times a day. To this disease is due a
verv great majoritv of the sudden deathsof j)ersons apparently
in perfect health.

With reference to death from contagions and inft-ctions dis-
eases, ii is the unanimous testimony of the leading autlioiiiio
that during the scourges of cholera, yellow fever and small-
pox, it is the drinker who falls victim, the moderate drinker
being no exce})tion to the rule, while the total abstainer is less
liable to contract the disease, and if affected, is far more likely
to survive. The fact holds good in such diseases as scarlet
and tvphoid fevers, when there is no known antidote to the
specific poison, and the quality of the tissues is relied upcm to
resi>t or survive the disease.

Alcohoi,as a remote cause of dt^ath, is none the less etfectivi'
in cases in which the victim is not himself addicted to the use of
strong drink, but iidierits from drinking parents a weak consti-
tution, which renders him an easy prey, an inviting field for dis-
ease. To inherited weakness is due a large per cent of the alarm-
ing rate of infant mortality resulting from cholera infantum,
measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc. Says our own Dr. Orme :
"If it were possible to separate deaths due to alcohol, from the
classified diseases to which they are ascribed, the facts would
be astounding." Dr. Kellogg, at the head of the Battle Creek
•Sanitarium, the largest in the world, agrees with other great
authorities that the brain, liver and kidneys are the organs
;having greatest afiBuiiy for alcohol, and that it is the di.sease
of these organs and of the heart, of which alcohol is the most
common cause ; while in pneumonia, the ordinary febrile di.s-
.ea.ses, such as bilious and malarial fevers, as well as the infec-
tious and contagious di.seases, such as cholera, smallj)ox, yel-
low, scarlet and tyi)hoivl fevers, etc., the (pic-tion often is,
whether alcohol is the real cau.«^e, the occa>ion, or simj)ly a
^great factor. Alcohol is mentioned among the causes of rheu-

28 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

matism and gcnit. It is one of the chief causes <»f insanity and
idiocy. Alcohol and its twin evil, tobacco, are very generally
resp«)nsible for paralysis and other diseases of the nervous
system. If we accept the unanimous testimony of the leading
medical scientists of the world, we can but conclude that in-
temperance is one of the chiefest, if not the chiefest, among
causes of mortality. The great Gladstone declares that in-
temperance has more victims than the three great scourges —
war, ian)ine and pestilence— combined.

That intemperance isone of the principal factors in the ter-
rible death-rate among the Negro population in the cities,
there can be no question. It is in the cities that intemperance
prevails. I believe that no one at all informed would hesitate
to assert that ninety-nine per cent of the city population are
addicted to some extent to the use of strong drink. No one
will deny that the Xegro is no exception to this rule. It is
well known that that class of the Negro population which fur-
nishes the excessive death-rate is that class most addicted to
the u.<e of whiskey and beer in their vilest forms. It is this
ignorant, drunken class of Negroes which furnish ninety per
cent of the criminals which crowd our jails and penitentiaries,
and who, poorly clad and fed, exposed to great extremes of
heat and cold, working rain or shine at most laborious tasks,
while serving terms in the chain-gangs, contract diseases and
die by hundreds annually. Those who live to be released
flock to the cities to finish their remaining weeks or months,
and add their quota to the death-rate. If this were the end
alone of men and women, old and hardened criminals, it
would not be so serious, but this is the end of hundreds of
boys and girls arrested for misdemeanors.

How long shall our |)oor and untaught children, tempted
on every corner by the cigarette seller, the beer shop and the
brothel, be arrested and placed in the chain-gangs with hard-
ened criminals, to be steeped in iniquity and schooled in
crime, and hastened to death of body and soul? What can
we do to lessen this enormous death-rate ? I answer, remove
the causes, chief among which is intemperance. And among
the causes which lead to intemperance is the use of tobacco,

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 21)

and ii)mitriti(>ii^ and poorlv (-(.okcd food. A voliinic nii^dit
he written on the responsihility of" the teaeher, the preaclier
and the physician with relation t(» this subject. It is a fact
that the conscientious up-to-date physician sehloni or never
prescribes ah-oholics. The preacher or teacher who suffers
himself or those whom he serves to be uninformed on this
vital question is recreant to his highest trust. I^t Cieorgia
lessen the death-rate among the Negro population by estab-
lishing at once a reformatory for juvenile offenders.

I beg your aid in the attempt to secure the pledge of the
representatives of the aj^proaching legislature to enact a law
providing a Slate reformatory.

30 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

POVERTY AS A CAUSE OF MORTALITY.

BY MRS. ROSA MOREHEAD BASS ('80).

Slavery left the colored man the rich inheritance of a log
cabin and patch of turnip greens. This log cabin is a piece of
architecture thai will soon be entirely relegated to the barba-
rous past. Peace be to its ashes I It has disappeared in the
towns and cities, and is found only in the poverty-stricken
rural districts. Cannot you recall the picture of that poor fam-
ily who worked hard all day in the field while their little
ones, almost nude, played around the door until the sun dropped
behind that hill studded with beautiful trees? See the mother
return and prepare her evening meal ; the fire is lighted, the
children, hungry and crying; behold the repast — fried bacon,
poorly-cooked bread, and black molasses. A pine torch illu-
mines the room that serves as a kitchen, dining-room, bed and
l)ath-room. After supper the little ones are otf to bed without
being properly batheil and dressed, and afti^r the usual chair-
nap, the father and mother retire. There they are all in a row,
und only one small window and door to let in nature's life-
giving air that keeps them from suffocating. The out-door
work, good water and a plenty of latitude curtail the rural
death-rate, but the pine torch has ruined so many eyes. Now
let us pass hastily the sparkling spring of cool water, the rosy-
cheeked peach and apple, the browsing cow in meadows green
and fair, the brawny-armed farmer, humming his mournful
song, and visit an alley in our city whose church spires point
heavenward, and whose inhabitants boast of being the most cul-
tured people of the South. I say pause a moment and look
down that alley, and near that branch of stagnant water, and
>ee that long row of tenement houses, poorly built — out of old
lumber, that has never been disinfected — and not even plastered.
The inmates are poorly clad, poorly fed, and, strange to say,
the poorer they are, the more filthy we find them. Disease and
death are rivals. Whenever an epidemic of smallpox and fever

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. '^1

visit lis, tlifv Hiid tliesc iinfort uiiiitrH their fiivurcd victim-;.
Tlu'ir povci'ty iniiddciis their brain, and thcv strew disease and
(leatli in tiicir pathway.

Siniinier is their favorite season, and tiie death-rate is s(ini.-
what diminished, hut when the autumn days come, '"the sad-
dest of" the year," the wailing winds their open houses invade
and the majestic K.ini^ of winter carpets the earth, and tlie poi.i'
shiver from want of"ch)thes, food and fire, and the grim mon-
ster ehiims them as his favorite subjects. Their povertv rend-
ered them unabh- to prej)are like the wise ant, and when thev
become ill they have neither friends nor nionev, and actnallv
die li'om the want of attention, medical, phvsieal and spiritUMl.

W <' find great mortality among the children of the poor.
Even before they can make their wants known, the mother is
compelled to leave them dailv, and a surprising number are
burned to death. The older childi-en are taught to go out anil
j)ick up trash to burn, rags, bones and iron to sell, therebv in-
viting disease and death. It is a strange fact, yet true, that all
work that is obnoxious, dangerous and lab(»rious is given the
poor Xegro at pay that would kill some peoj)le even to think
of having it to do for a living. These peojtle in buying lood,
etc., alwavs .seek (juaniity and not (pniliiti ; hence the butcher,
fishei'nian, fruiterer, dairyman and merchant are careful to an-
ticipate their wants. (The health ofticer is occasionally heard of
when the rich are imposed up<»n.) The manner in which they
live breed-; di.>^C()ntent, hatred and envv, and con.sefjuently they
tight, kill each other, and rob and murder the more fortunate.
Their mi.>-ery is one of the devil's workshops, and they aie
his tools.

The C(jifers of the landlord are being filled with the blood
of his neighbor, and not until the crowded alleys are consigned
to the log-cabin era will health and life take an onward march.
and as the X ravs of the Atlanta University are turned on,
will cleanliness, thrift, industry, happiness and hygienic li\ing
add their (piota to the life-rate; and la.^t, but not lea-t. not un-
til the whole Christian world plays her part in the Samaritan
<lrama, will the life-rate in Heaven be increased, and the death-
rate on earth diminished !

32 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

IGNORANCE AS A CAUSE OF MORTALITY.

BY PROF. AV. B. MATTHEWS ('90).

Among the many causes which produce death in our large
cities, it is by no means an easy matter to distinguish between
ignorance, poverty and negligence. However, it is safe to
assert that no few of the deaths which occur in our large cities
are the result of ignorance, either directly or indirectly.

It will be seen from the outset that city life re(iuires a more
accurate observance of the laws of health than country or vil-
lage life. With this fact in mind, all cities have established
their boards of health to look after and remove any and all
causes which in their minds might produce sickness or death.
These boards are usually composed of the best informed phy-
sicians who, from time to time, make and publish rules which
are to be observed and obeyed by all the citizens. These rules
the ignorant classes do not obey, not because they are willfully
disobedient, but because they are ignorant. They cannot read,
they have no interest in public atfairs ; they know but little
about the causes which bring sickness and disease among them,
and hence are the easy prey of e{)idemics and contagions.

As to the laws of hygiene, they are generally ignored be-
cause they are unknown, but this does not excuse. The laws
of nature and of health are as unvarying in the case of the
ignorant as in the case of the intelligent. The violation of
certain rules governing the health of our bodies brings the
same results to all men alike. Our aim will be to show that
the iguorant violate the rules of health, and are therefore more
fre(|uently the victim.** of disease and death.

Many suffer on account of impr()per ventilation, not know-
ing that impure air is the parent of every lung trouble known
to the human family. Pure air is one of the freest and best
gifts bestowed upon man by our beneficent Father; but alas!
how many thousands in our large cities die every year from

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 33

failing to use tliis gift ! Men and women, through ignorance,
shut the doors and windows to their houses, thus haning out
God's life-giving atmosphere, and inviting oonsumj)tion and
death. Pure air gives lite, foul air brings death.

Thousands of men, women and ehildren are sick and dying
in the slums of our large citie.s from liver and kidney troubles.
These troul)les have come to them because the proper care has
not been taken of the skin. Would it be true to say that
tiirough ignorance of the true functions of the ])ores in our
bodies, and their relation to good health, certain classes of
people fail to keej) their bodies clean and the pores of the skin
open? Whoever closes these millions of doors, the inlets of
life and outlets of death, will sooner or later succund) to the
pangs of disease, for by so doing they shut out life and let in
death.

But what of appetite, and wiiat ])eo])lc are less liable to con-
trol their ajipetites ? Are not the most ignorant ? The glut-
ton, through ignorance of the evil result of his intemperate
habit, overloads his stomach and imj)uirs its caj)acitv to pro]>-
erly discharge its functions, thereby inducing manv diseases
which shorten life.

With the light that We have on the evil effects of alcohol
upon the system, it would scarcely be permissible to say that
men who udce it are ignorant of its destructive elements. Yet
I venture the assertion that there are manv amont): the iarno-
rant classes of our large cities who are entirely unconscious of
the fact that the indulgence of the appetite for strong drink
shortens life and cuts off the days of their posterity.

Thus we see, looking at th^ matter briefly from a hygienic
])oint of view, that the body may be kept in a healthy state bv
obedience to the laws of health, but when they are neglected,
the inevitabli- result is disease and death. Can men ignorant
of such laws live in accordance therewith, or avoid tlu^ conse-
(jUences of their disol^edience ?

'J'urning from the persons to the locality in which they live,
we may find many things which will have the same effect upon
health as the failure to obey hygienic laws. It must l)c ad-
mitted that a filthy home, unclean bedding and wearing a]>-

34 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

parel, not cluiuged at proper intervals, are as productive of
disease and death as anv other eause. As a i;eneral rule, lii-
norant people live together in very thickly populated cotuniu-
nities. Such communities are usually freighted with impure
air, and the germs of disease are in tlie very water which they
drink. Not knowing how much damage tilth and impure wa-
ter can do to health and life, the ignorant tlock to these com-
munities, sicken and die, ami never incpiire into the cause. In
such places, water containing foreign matter i'rom soiled
clothes, slops, etc., is thrown indisciiminately at the hack door,
front door or under the bed-room window, and nothing more
is thought of it. People who know the results otsuch acts of
indiscretion do not often commit them. Disobedience to the
laws of hygiene brings a curse with every broken law. The
body is weakened, the human system impaired, and rtnally
death seizes its victims. No person can live in accordance
with laws of which he is ignc^rant. Knowing that many all
around us are ignorant of the prof»er care and use of their
bodies, is it a matter at which we should wonder when we note
the daily deaths that are caused from impure air, unclean
bodies, unwholesome food, excessive appetites and ungoverned
passions? These are the fruits of ignorance which are to be
found in our large cities, and they bring death to no small
number. A filthy house, an unclean yard, a soiled bed, all
invite disease ; they are harbingers of death. Those persons
who keep such homes cannot themselves keep well ; their
children cannot be well born, and all who accept such sur-
roundings do so because they are ignorant of the effect upon
themselves and their posterity. To learn and obey the laws
of health, to understand and observe the rules of sanitation,
men must be inteUi":ent.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. ^^^

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF MORTALITY.

HV MISS I.rCY LANKY ('7-'5).

"Birds ofa feather flock togctlur." In Augusta, as in most
cities of America, there are j)arts of the city ()ccnj)iefl exclu-
sively l)v Negroes, except a few whites, usually (ierrnan or Irish,
keepers of small stores, who live among the Negroes for the
sake of their trade. Although some do not believe it. yet it
is true that there are grades of society among Negroes, as
among other races, and the lines of distinction are drawn for
as wise and as silly reasons as are those among the more fa-
vored peoj)le. As in other things, this grading is seen in the
choosing of a locality for a home. The ]>ooi-est, most untidy
and the mo>t ignorant seek each other. They always find
homes in the .-ame neighborhood, if not in adjt)ining houses.
As each city has its Negro settlements, and as the great rank
and file oi' the race belong to the grade or class called the
])Oorest and most ignorant, of this kind are the largest settle-
ments. These ]»eople have small wages, many with nothing
to do a great part of the year, and the majority have no steady
emplovment. For food, rent, fuel and clothing they are de-
pendent uj)on the odd jobs that j)ay not more than fifty cents
per day Utv two or three days in a week. To eke out a living
on such an income requires, they know, the strictest economy,
but how to economize they know not, yet thinking they know,
in their wav they set about it. The first step is to cut down
the expense of living by taking no more house room than barely
enough in which to turn around. A small family, jtarentsand
two or three children, take one room. The landlord will not
agree to have this cleaned before they move in, although it has
not been cleaned or repaired in a score of years, and during
that time as many diflerent families, with each a different dis-
ease, have lived in it. The tenant can't afford to have it cleaned,
so he contents himself by sweeping the floor before his house-
hold goods are brought in. The truth is, he does not see the
iuiportance ol" having the house thoroughly cleaned i)efore oc-

36 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

c ipying it, and if the reut is cheap he does not parley, but
pays the iiistalluK-nt and takes possession.

In this rO">ni, 15x15, sometimes smaller space, are placed a
bedstead, a three-tjuarters bed, sometimes two (but in these days
ot" cheap furniture and installment sales, a folding lounge very
often takes the place of the se<;oud bedstead), one or two tables,
a trunk, bureau, not less than four chairs, tubs, boards, etc-
for lauudrying, cooking utensils, and a lot of odds and ends.
These, with the family, give breathing space scarcely sufficient
for one, yet by some means it is hoped to get enough tor the
tvhole family. It is not long before hy{)ostatic pneumonia or
tuberculosis visits them, and huding the atmosphere conge-
nial, abides with the family.

It may be that the work of the mother of the femily re-
quires that she be away from the home all day. Leaving at 6
a. m., without giving any care to the house or children, she
returns at 8 or 9 o'clock at night. The ciiildren are asleep,
in the streiet, or at some neighbor's, where they have been all
day. The tired mother, after a few words, gcjes to bed. She
awakes next day only to carry out the same program. Per-
haps there are no children; then the uncleaned house is securely
fastened. Perhaps once in several months, time is spared for
house cleaning, or it may be put otf till moving day.

A family in which the father has steady employment at fifty
or seventy-five cents per day, and the mother and girls are
doing the washing of one or two families, numbering six or
seven persons each, bed and table linen included, for 75 cents
to §1.25 p<'r week, furnishing the soap, starch and fuel for the
same, rents a house of two or thn^e rooms. Yet the above
wages will give but scanty living for parents, five or six child-
ren and grandmother. Rent, fuel, food, clothing, books for the
children if they are in school, the minister's salary, and the
assessment for the new church building, and during the sum-
mer an excursion — all of these must be paid for out of the
wages of the family. Inferior material for clothing, if stores
that deal in second-hand apparel are not patronized, most in-
ferior food, the most dilapidated houses must be used.

Another class, there is, some of whom from choice are idle,

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 37

others, from iiu'.ldlity to ol)taii! work, have no vi>il)lr iiic;iii> of
sii|)j)ort. Tlu'se manage, by living in gr(in|)s sonutliing aln r
the Italian manner, to exis^t. Four to six (tccnjtv one room,
in which there is little or no furnittin'. One m two meals a
week, with a little food here and there, serve to sustain life
and nourish disease, moral and j)liy>ical. There is another
class more noble than those mentioned. It is comjxised of
])ersons anxious to own a home, and although thev receive hut
scanty wages, they are not easily discouraged and go to work
determined to own some land. Of <'ourse, they must huv the
cheapest land and on the easiest terms — the low places sur-
rounded by ])onds outside the city limits, in the city beyond
the extension of the sewers and other sanitary arrangements,
places where you can see the miasma rise and touch it, as it
were, with your hands. The houses put up are but aj)ologies
for houses. The peo|)le of these localities spend a good por-
tion of the fall fighting thechillsand the fever, till alas ! j)oor,
earnest, honest, simple folk, when they think their systems are
enured to exposure and malaria, disease has laid fast hold upon
them.

Another class, who have learned something of cleanliness
and hygiene, are forced by their poverty, for the sake of cheap
rents, to live in most sickly and unclean neighborhoods, with
but scanty food and no money for medicines or nourishment
when they are sick, which is quite often.

There is yet another class who, by their perseverance, in-
telligence and economy, have made for themselves better houses,
comfortable homes in healthy localities; these see hearts ache
with alarm at tiie devastation that is being made, but how to
sto}) it is to them the unsolved problem of their race.

College settlements they cannot have, for the mighty lever
of modern civilization, money, is wanting to them. The
planting of factories, shoj)s, etc., to furnish employment is for
the same cause, at this time, to them an impossibility.

That the moving spirit (tf these meetings mav be a Moses
come to lead out of the wilderness is greatly to be hojxd.
That from these meetings mav be evolved jilans that will bring
some relief", is the prayer and aim of all concerned.

38 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

INFANT MORTALITY.

BY FRANK S. CHURCHILL, M. D., CHICAGO.

The late Oliver Wendell Holmes said thai the treatment of
a patient onght to begin with the treatment of his ancestors
three generations* preceding, and the practicing physician is
Constantly and daily reminded of thetrnth of this observation,
so often does he see the intlnence of heredity, and in many in-
stances, alas ! the sins of the fathers visited npon the children
of the third and fourth generations.

But while it is of course impossible for us wholly to undo
what has been done, wholly to eradicate from ourselves what
of evil has come down to us from our ancestors, yet we can do
much, by careful and tem{)erate living, to counteract any such
weaknesses, and thereby contribute, in a consitlerable degree,
to the health and ha|)piness of our offspring. It is the future
of humanity that we must attemp to benefit, and this we can
best do by regulating our own lives and those of our children,
recognizing the weak points which we must combat, and cul-
tivating to a still higher degree the traits of virtue which, for-
tunately, have also come down to us through the ages. And
I propose to suggest briefly in this paper a few of the, to me,
important points in the treatment and management of our
children, careful observance of which will, I believe, tend to
reduce the mortality among them, to promote in them a phys-
ical condition of good health, and thus render the task of a
higher moral, mental and social life more easy of accomplish-
ment.

In considering the subject, I shall ask your attention to a
discussion of the child from the momeut of birth ; for, while
we might well begin with a consideration of the management
of a j)regnant woman, yet that is a subject too vast to be con-
sidered in a paper of this length and kind. Suffice it to say,
that from the earliest moment pregnancy is suspected, a wo-

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 39

mail sliniiKl j»l;u'e herself" at once tinder the eharjjjeof a ooiupe-
tent physician, phicing u|)()n liini the res|)()nsil>ilitv of" directing
fully the })erio(l (»f" gestation. The child, once launched into
what is for most of us a life of struggle and work, is at the
point where we may disenss his career, ^^'llat are we to do
with him '.' How guide him and fit him fir the hatth' of life,
that he m:iy make tiie most of himself", and contril)iite his mite
towards the improvement of the world and the ev<diition of
the race ?

The first point upon which I would insist is that his entry
into tiie world shall he accomplished with all the care j)ossil)le,
exerted by a careful, conscientious and thoroughly-trained
doctor. It is a most unfortunate and common practice among
the jtoor and ignorant to emi)loy midwivesto attend their wo-
men in labor; they seem not to realize the great danger to
themselves and their children, of having for attendance at such
a time Women wholly ignorant (»f human anatomv and phvsi-
ology, totally untrained in habits of care and c]eanlines.s, ut-
terly unfit for the work they presume to do. 1 cannot too
strongly insist upon tlie great danger arising from this practice
of employing midwives, and would urge iij)on each and every
one of you, whose work leads you in anv wav among the poor
and ignorant, to warn them against this practice, and urge
them to seek jiroper medical aid and assistance. Bv so doing
you will do much towards decreasing the mortality among the
new-l)orn and insuring a better state of health and vigor among
the mothers.

Improvement in this direction is the more easilv accom-
plished on account of the numerous hosj)i{als and dispensaries
now found in all cities. It is safe to say that, as a general
tiling, the best physicians of the city will be found on the staffs
of these hospitals; medical aid and advice are invariably free;
with one or more of them is generally connected an obstetrical
department, and by merely a]>plying at these instituti(»ns, a
Woman can be attended, either at the hospital or at her lu)me,
during labor and convalescence, by a physician j)roperly pre-
pared, by a long course of study, to do thoroughly scientific-
obstetrical work.

«
■^0 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

I would then siijrgest to you that in all cases possible you
urge these people to seek such institutions, and thus free them-
selves from the great dangers inevitably arising froiii attend-
ance by a midwife. It seems to me a practicable way of sav-
ing lite among the new-born and preserving health and strength
among mothers.

The high rate of murtality among infants is a subject well
worthy the consideration of all thoughtful men and women,
and naturally leads one to enquire as to causes and possible
remedies. Prominent aminig the causes of this high rate must
be mentioned bad heredity and injudicious and harmful man-
agement of these little ones by their parents. As a result of
these two causes, many children are ill-pre{>ared to meet and
battle with the acute diseases almost inevitably before them ;
they are more apt to contract disease than a healthier child ;
they are more apt to die from it, when once contracted, as their
resisting power is weakened by their heredity and their man-
agement since birth.

Now what is the remedy ? What can we do to counteract
hereditary weakness ? How manage our children so as to give
them the best health and greatest resisting |)ower possible?
While the most successful solution of these problems necessi-
tates the a.ssistanee of a trained physician, yet much aid can be
furnished by the parents, and indeed without their constant
and hearty co-oj)eration, little can be done by their medical
adviser. The general directions as to details must be given
by the doctor ; the patient, daily, hourly, minutely execution
of these details must devolve upon the parents. What, then,
are the practical step.s to be taken ? you will ask. First, as
to the question of heredity. Humanity is not perfect; we all
of us, even though we do not admit it, are conscious of certain
defects in our own characters — physical, mental or moral. The
tendency towards these defects we transmit to our own child-
ren, and though by care and wise management the growth of
these defects may be held in check, or they may not even be
apparent, or may exist only as a blemish, yet let us not blind
ourselves to the fact that the seed is there, and that without
keen watchfulness on our part it may grow and develop into

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 41

the glaring defect which we seek to avoid. Tell vour physi-
cian of the weaknes.s there ma\ be in yourself, of the heredi-
tary taint wliich may exi.st, actively or passively, that yon may
have his help in the training of your child, hi.s assi.stance in
fighting the weak points, and dcvtdoping ihe strong traits
which fortunately also exist, iiercditary and self-developed.

For example, to particularize, take the well-known disease
of consumption. You yourself may be free from it, your pa-
rents or some members of your family may have been or mav
now be afflicted with it. Tell your do<»tor of this fact, show
him your infant or child, that he may examine him thor-
oughly, that in the future, in illness or in health, he may be
constantly on the lookout for signs which may escape your
notice, not through carelessness on your part, but merely be-
cause it is not the business of your life to be looking for these
signs. Consumption is not, of course, the only disease or de-
fect which may exist in us; there may be a weak heart, a
week stomach, weak bowels, weak kidneys, weak brain, weak
nerves. By frankly facing such facts, and by care and watch-
fulness such as T have mentioned, we may do much either to
strengthen the weak point, or often to crush out the bad Sied
altogether.

Nor do I hesitate to speak thus to you who must be con-
sidered the van guard of humanity, when you may think that
this paper has to do with mortality among the infants of our
less fortunate brethren.

There is so much in these thoughts that you and I, each and
every one of us, can take home to himself and herself; we are
all human, and though in the course of ages, by the process of
evolution, we have arrived at the top of the animal scale, we
are not yet perfect, and must transmit to our descendants our
vices as well as our virtues. And I would suggest that you
urge upon those needing ytmr help, as I liave sought to urge
upon you, the importance of early and coiiNtajit attention to
the points mentioned above. Do not bi" discouragod by think-
ing that these poor helj)less infants cannot have the medical
aid and advice which I suggest. Tfici/ ccni. It is in the cities
that the most of this work can be done. And as I havealrcndv

-I- STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

said, it is in the cities that such advice and aid can be had at
the hospital:? and dispensaries. So, if the necessity arise, if
their children l)e not thriving, urge them to seek these insti-
tutions where, I am sure, much good will be done them.

Much that has been said in the discussion of heredity of
course applies in speaking of the management and training of
infants, but a few more points seem to me to be of importance.
When shall we begin the active training of infants? To this
(piestion 1 would answer most emphatically, at the moment of
birth. This, perchance, will cause you to sinile. What, dis-
ci})line a baby just born I How? The whole question is
summed up in a nut-shell in the three words, regularity of
habit. Come with me on my daily rounds, and see how (juickly
and easily that small bundle of humanity becomes the tyrant
of the household; many of you, perchance, realize this in your
own families. It is all the more lamentable, because it can be
prevented. Fortunately, the moral and physical are so inti-
mately blended in the young human animal that the training
i>f the one unconsciously involves the training of the other.
The new-born babe does nothing but eat, sleep and cry ; at
least manage it that he shall eat with regularity, at stated
times, as you do yourselves, but of course oftener, and his
oth.er occupations will regulate themselves ; he will sleep
properly and regularly, ami if healthy will cry but little.
Fixed, regular habits of thought and action in our own daily
lives are of an im[)ortance too well known to need more than
a passing mention. They are of equal importance in infancy
and childhood, but unfortunately this fact is rarely appreci-
ated, and we cannot l)egin too early to start the young life in
habits of regularity, which once applied in the tirst weeks, in
the only way possible, /. e. in the matter of food and sleep,
will jjraduallv extend themselves in other directions with the
growth and development of the child, and will do much to
strengthen and bring out a well-rounded and well-disciplined
character.

The quality and character of an infant's food has, of course,
much to do with his physical, and therefore with his nervous
condition, and though this question is one to be settled by the

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. -l'^

doctor, yet a few words on tlie suUjoct may hrol interest. 'Ihv
natural and best food for an infant during' its lirst year of life
is, of course, its own mother's milk, if that be a jj^ood milk. If
for any reason the infant cannot havesueh, what 1h* shall have
must be determined by a doctor. But I cannot refrain from
■warning all of you, and would urge you in turn to warn all
others, mothers esj>ecially, against all the Mell-known patent
baby foods. They have all been examined by educated men,
and it has been found that none are good food i'or babies ;
some are loo rich and make the baby sick ; most are not rich
enough, and so the baby's bones and flesh do not grow hard
enough. No well-educated doctor will to-day advise you to
use them. But he will show you how to make cows' milk
just like mothers' milk, and that is the food which infants
should have when they can't have mother's milk.

One more point on the food question, one which you do not
need yourselves, but one as to a common practice among the
ignorant, viz., tea and coffee. No infant, no child till he is
eighteen years old ought to touch tea and coffee ; they are bad
for the stomach, bad for the nerves, and make infants and
children cross and fretful. You will have t>])portunity to do
much good by discouraging their use aniong the young. The
same is true about beer and all forms of alcoholic drinks.

All that I have hitherto said has been in the way of sugges-
tions to prevent sickness, to keep the infant strong and healthy.
AVhen an acute sickness, like scarlet fever, measles, or "sum-
mer complaint," actually comes, the infant must, of course,
be carefully treated by a doctor. Much helj) in these cases is
derived from a trained nurse, if one is to be had. As is well
known, in many of our large cities there are charitable organ-
izations, which will send to the sick poor, nurses who have by
hard and long study fitted themselves to do this scientific
work. In my practice in Chicago, these nurses have been of
the greatest helji, and many lives liave been saved by their
devotion and careful work. They can generally be had by
going to some hospital or dispensary.

I have, ladies and gentlemen, thus very briefly attempted
to suggest to you some of the actual practical steps which it

•44 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

is possible for you, even tlioii<)::h not physicians, to take to re-
duce the mortality among anci improve the physical condition
of our infants and children. The work of ele\ating and enno-
bling the human race is a grand and inspiring one. Much
has already been an«l is constantly being done among adults
and youths ; much, it seems to me, cm be done by careful and
intelligent work in infancy and early childhood. It is then
that mind and body are in the most pliable and receptive con-
dition, and that good seed, carefully sown, is most apt to bear
fruit, and while I am far from deprecating the good and noble
work done among adults, and would bid those engaged in it
God-speed, yet I cannot help thinking that even greater good
and greater strides forward will be made by the race, if we
begin at the earliest possible moment to train the young hu-
man animal in the way he should go. His moral condition is
greatly influenced by his nervous condition, which in turn is
dependent on his general j)hysical well-being. Hence, I have
thought it important to dwell on those points which will tend
to promote a condition of good health, believing that thereby
the moral and social elevation of the individual and so of the
race will be the more easily acctmiplished.

What I have said applies with ecjual force to the poor and
ignorant of all kinds? and conditions of men. I make no dis-
tinction as to race or color. But each of us is more apt to be
influenced by those of his own race and kindred, and who
better than yourselves, graduates of Atlanta University, are
better fltted to help in the elevation of the poor and ignorant
of your own race? I know of none, and would urge upon
each and every one of you the duty you owe to your race and
to humanity, and bid you do what you may in the common
evolution and elevation of the human family. Especially to
those of you who purpose taking up the ''City Problem Inves-
tigation," now the subject of discussion before this conference,
will there be a rare opportunity to do much for the physical
improvement of the helpless infants coming in contact with
your own lives.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES.

4r>

REMARKS OF BISHOP L. H. HOLSEY.

I clid not c'Xjx'C't to say anything to-iiiglit, hut cauu' to hear
what was going to be said. 1 am intensely a race man, and I
am intensely humanitarian. I am a raoe man i)ecause 1 believe
our race needs attenti(m ; I am a humanitarian because I want
to do good to all people. 1 am a j)art of the old and the new,
and I know about both.

There is one idea that strikes me strongly. It is how the
colored man is dying <uit. One of the chief causes is that he
is in a state of transition. He has passed out of one state into
another. He must get adapted to a climate which he is not
used to. In olden times the men lived in barn houses, and
they always had air. The colored man also slept out of doors,
with the gi'ound for his bed and the heavens for his cover,
and hence he had fresh air. Take this colored race, keep
them in close houses. They do not know anything about hy-
giene ; they crowd and pack things under the beds and hang
things behind the doors, and if nothing disturbs them they
will stay there from generation to generation. Wliat is ihe
remedy? You will say that this is the remedy and that is the
remedy, but there is but one great remedy — that of education.
They do not need any of these fashion fandangles, These
jK'ople knew notliing of the study of science, but they had re-
ligion, because tiiey didn't have time and sense enough to
have anything else.

Some one said to-night that they did not keej) any record of
the death of slaves, lint my master kept a good record. A
j)hysician was jiaid annually to see to the slaves. There are
a great many jxojde now that die for want of s(unething to
eat. The doctor says he must not touch this thing and must
not touch the other thing, but if he get anything to eat he will
get up and work. Many of the colored peojde die of starva-
ti<»n. They say the cidored people are dying with consump-

46 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

tion. I luive seen black men die of eonsun)j)tinn, Itiit wlun I
traced tlieni dttwii,! have found that there was white hhxnl in
them. I have never known of a fnll-l)h»oded Negro dying of
consumption. I, however, heard of a white man who had
consumption, and he had a Negro hoy, an<l the hoy died with
con.snm[)tion. He afterwards hired another Negro hoy, and
the man and this boy also died with consumption. Both boys'
grandmi>thers had white blood in their veins.

It has been said that there is not as much intemperance in
the country as there is in the city. In the city they drink
every night, but in the country they drink all day Saturday
and all day Sunday. They drink more in these two days than
the others drink all the week. The father, mother and all the
children drink. Once while I was in the country the preacher
was too drunk to preach the sermon. They wanttd me to
read the sennnii, but I said I would not. I really believe
thattluTc is as much intemperance in the country as in the citv.

I want to say that my heart is in this work. I hope that
you will find out remedies for these evils. We must teach our
people to begin to think about these things, and to learn the
laws of hygiene.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. ■*"'

LETTER F1U)M PROFESSOR EDWD. (I'MMINCilS
OF HARVARD UMVERsriY.

Permit nie to express my interest in tlie ountribiitions wliicli
jrriulimtes of Ath'.nta l^niversity are making to the vital sta-
tistics ofcitv life. Such inquiries are everywhere coniiiiaiul-
in^ the attention of sociological students, and it is a gratifying
trihute to tlie spirit of your University that her students are
so prompt in entering this field. It is in cities that the great
prohlems of life and lahor press most earnestly for solution,
and anything which throws light upon the commonj)lace hut
ohscure conditions of every-day life, must help us better to
understand the progress which has been made and the evils
which have still to be overcome. The home is the unit of our
civilization; it is the nursery of social virtues, the source from
which must flow those regenerating moral influences which
help society at large to realize that ideal of fraternity which
has always been the goal of civilization. Whatever strikes at
the integrity of the home, strikes at the integrity of our civili-
zation. Whatever ministers to the health and beauty of fam-
ily life, tends to sweeten the fountains of our social life. Sound
economic and sanitary conditions are the only environment
in whi<"h social virtues may thrive. Industry, economy, clean-
liness, plain living and high thinking are the source no less of
individual hai)i)iness than of social welfare.

It is es})ecially gratifying to observe the j)romj)tness with
which the recent call lor information has been met in the city
of Atlanta. If the same spirit of enterprise and co-operation
can be relied uj>on to carry on the work in other places, tljere
is every reason to hoj)e that these investigations may jjrove
notonlv a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the pro-
gress wiiich has been made, but an incentive and a guide to
future efl'ort. All who are interested in our common welfare
will await with interest the results of these investigations by
men and women who are so well ac(piainted with the conditions
and so well equipj)ed for the work. I shall consider it a priv-
ilcire to be of assistance in anv wav I that can.

48 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

LETTER FROM MR. R, R. WRIGHT, PRESIDENT
OF GEORGIA STATE INDUSTRIAL COLLEGE.

I am unable to expret'S to yoii my regret at not being able
to be present witb yon and those interested in the "City
Problem Investigation" in your first conference at Atlanta
University. * * * * * *

For a number of years I liave thought that the greatest
danger to the real [)rogress of the colored people lies in this
sociological condition in the large cities. It is difficult, how-
ever, to get the facts. There is very little attention given in
the South to the vital statistics of Negroes. lu fact the census
is neither full nor altogether reliable. The facts, if gotten at
all, must be searched out by conscientious |)ersons specially
interested in this kiiul of work. Nevertheless, any one who
will give the least observation to this matter will see that the
cities are the hot beds of crime, misery and death among the
coloreil people. Here the people are huddled t(»gether, with
often two or three families in one room. Without employment
for more than half the time, they are consequently insutficiently
fed and poorly clothed. When sick they are unable either to
emplov a physician or to buy medicine. At least twenty-Hve
per cent of them die without medical aid. In the city of Sa-
vannah, during the year 1894, 251 colored persons died with-
out medical attention. This is 33J per cent of the total num-
ber of deaths among these people for that year. About 00 per
cent of this nund>er of dcatiis were children under the age of
ten. Twenty-four thousand of the ")2,(X)0 population of Sa-
vannah are Negroes. Hence it will be seen that whatever
affects these people, atffcts at least nearly half the population
of our chief sea[K)rt. What is true of Savannah, I judge to be
approximately true of all the cities of Georgia and of most of
the cities of the South.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. 49

The city coluri'd pe()j)lo drift into crime because they are
idle and hungry far oftener than because they are purposely
vicious. All cities furnish far too large a proportion ol crime,
ignorance aud misery of the colored ])c()j)le.

Any movement, therefore, that will bring to light the facts,
lay bare the causes, aud suggest the remedies in relation to
this crime, misery aud death which affects our people in the
cities, will merit universal applause.

50 STUDY OF NEGRO CITY LIFE.

LETTER FROM GEORGE W. CABLE TO BUTLER
R. WILSON, ESQ.

Your letter of May 8, which has gone long unanswered for
reasons too tedious to recount to you, reminds tne pleasantly
of our earlier acquaintance.

The blanks and circulars of which it speaks, and which are
now before me, did not reach me promptly. I think very highly
of your undertaking to get accurate information of the socio-
logical conditions of the Negro race in Anierica. I hope you
may gather a strong body of men so selected as to guarantee
by their personal reputation the authenticity of whatever is
put forth. It seems to me, from the highest, broadest, most
patriotic and cosmopolitan point of view, to be one of the best
euterprises that could be undertaken at this time.

MORTALITY AMONG NEGROES IN CITIES. » 01

RESOLUTIONS OF THE COXFERENCE.

Resolved, That the papers presented by the graduates of the
Atlanta University and others show an alarming increase in
the death-rate of the Negro population of cities and large
towns, from such diseases as consumption and j)neumonia, due
in a great degree to ignorance, poverty, negligence and in-
temperance.

Resolved, That the investigations thus far made show the
necessity for continuing the search for exact data on a larger
scale, with a view to ascertaining more definitely the causes
and seeking out and applying remedies for existing conditions.

Re-'iolved, That the corresponding secretary and executive
committee of this conference be and are hereby instructed to
continue the investigations on these and other lines pertaining
to the welfare of the Negro ])opulation in cities, and invite
the hearty co-operation of all the graduates of the Atlanta
I'^niver.'-ity, and of others interested in the investigation and
solution of city problems.

The following also participated in the general discussions :
Butler R. Wilson, Esq. ('SJ) of Boston, Mass.; Mr. F. H. Hen-
derson ('79) of Cuthbert; Rev. G. W. F. Phillips ('76) of Mar-
shall ville ; Mr. George A. Toirns ('94)0/* Atlanta; Professor
Thonms N. Chase of Atlanta; and Rev. T. G. Hazel of Charles-
ton, s. c.

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